英语小故事第360期：The Heart Attack (2)

His computer was on. Maybe he should email someone. What would the email say—“I think I’m dying of a heart attack”? Wait a minute, he thought. He was about to die, and he was going to email someone who might not open his email for days?! He turned off the computer. Should he leave the dining table lamp on, or turn it off? He didn’t know whether to sit in the chair at the dining table, or go lie down in bed. Should he be sitting down or lying down when he died? Did it matter? He decided to sit in the chair and wait for his death.

He used to teach CPR, and he knew he had the symptoms of a heart attack. Victims usually describe a feeling of fullness. Students always used to ask what the “fullness” felt like, but he couldn't tell them. Now he knew exactly what it felt like.

So, this is how it’s going to happen, he thought, as he sat in the chair looking at the TV, waiting to die. He didn’t particularly like the thought of dying at this time, but he accepted it. He was 60 years old. You live, you die. Would he just quietly become unconscious? Or would his heart “explode,” causing him to yell out in pain?

And then the fullness in his chest simply disappeared. The numbness in his hand went away, too. He waited, just to be sure. He was okay! From start to finish, perhaps three minutes had passed. Thank You, he said quietly.

Tomorrow he should see a doctor and a lawyer, he thought. And next time, he shouldn’t worry about the cost of an ambulance ride or a hospital stay. He couldn’t believe that when he thought his very life was on the line, he had cheaped out.